American intercontinental subsonic cruise missile. Developed 1946-1959; deployed only briefly in 1961 before being made obsolete by ICBM's. The control and navigation technology developed for it during the 1950's provided the basis for later Northrop navigation systems used in strategic ballistic missiles.

In March 1946 the USAAF awarded Northrop development contracts for project MX-775, covering the subsonic Snark and supersonic Boojum long-range cruise missiles (the names derived from Lewis Carroll – back then everyone had a better sense of humor). Tests of the tail-less aerodynamic design began in April 1951. In the meantime the USAF had decided it wanted the Snark to be an intercontinental range cruise missile, and a much larger version of the missile began test in August 1953. The program was dogged with problems in getting the launch right, with the engines, the guidance, with everything – leading Cape Canaveral wags to refer to the ‘Snark infested waters' off the test center. Replacing the planned J71 engine with the J57 solved some of the problems. Flight tests with the stellar-inertial navigation system began in November 1955. However the ‘precision' system could not be made to work properly, with the CEP of test missiles being 20 miles (one errant Snark was only found in the Brazilian rain forest 30 years later). Small consolation was found on one mission when the missile was declared to have the missed the target (off Ascension Island) by 4.7 miles. But it turned out the inertial system was accurate – the island was mislocated on British naval charts. By the time missile had reached an acceptable reliability and performance in December 1959, the USAF was gearing up for deployment of the first Atlas ICBM's, which rendered Snark completely obsolete. Nevertheless one Snark wing went into operational service at Presque Isle, Maine with 30 missiles, serving as a tiny portion of the US subsonic deterrent from February to June 1961.

As was the case of the much more ambitious Navaho, development of missiles in the 1950's was mainly paced by navigation technology. By the time the inertial systems were ready for subsonic missiles, they were also ready for ballistic missiles which made the cruise missiles obsolete. Northrop's main heritage from the program was its electronics division, which produced inertial navigation systems for USAF programs for decades to come.

Boojum Intercontinental supersonic cruise missile. A follow-on to the Snark that was Northrop's competitor with the North American Navaho. Never reached development stage and no details available. Name obviously derived from the punch line of Lewis Carroll's poem: "...for the Snark was a Boojum, you see..."